LOS ANGELES, CA – Alexander Schecter, 26, of Santa Monica, who was charged in April with kidnapping a UCLA student and raping a woman in Culver City, was found dead Monday evening at a residence in Santa Monica, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
Police said a family member reported Schecter unconscious and not breathing at the residence in the 800 block of San Vicente Boulevard shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Santa Monica Police Lt. Lewis Gilmour said there was no indication of foul play. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office released Schecter’s name and manner of death Tuesday, and its online records list the manner of death as suicide.
Schecter was out on bail and had a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Airport Courthouse.
Response at the San Vicente Boulevard home
Officers were sent to the 800 block of San Vicente Boulevard near Lincoln Boulevard at about 5:50 p.m. Monday, according to initial reports. Santa Monica Fire Department personnel pronounced Schecter dead at the scene.
Police said officers were treating the death as a suspected suicide. Gilmour told reporters Tuesday that there was no indication of foul play.
The county medical examiner’s office released Schecter’s name and manner of death Tuesday, according to police. The office’s online case records list the manner of death as suicide.
Charges filed in April
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Schecter in case 26ARCF00673, according to a news release issued April 6. The charges were one count of kidnapping to commit another crime, one count of first-degree residential robbery, two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count of forcible rape.
The release said that if convicted as charged, Schecter faced 37 years to life in state prison. The county’s newsroom posted the same announcement, including the arraignment and bail details.
The charges were allegations. Schecter had not been convicted of any crime.
March incident near UCLA
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Schecter allegedly kidnapped a female UCLA student at about 3 a.m. on March 8 on Landfair Avenue in Westwood. Prosecutors said he prevented her from leaving his car and threatened violence.
The release said the student escaped about half a mile away. UCLA Police arrested Schecter on March 12 after identifying him as the suspect in the kidnapping, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Culver City case from October 2025
During the investigation, authorities identified Schecter as the suspect in a separate sexual assault case. Prosecutors said that on Oct. 12, 2025, at about 3:15 a.m., he allegedly sexually assaulted and raped a woman in Culver City.
Neither woman has been identified publicly.
The case moved through the Airport Courthouse. Arraignment was continued to May 4 in Department 30, and bail was set at $700,000, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which had requested $1.4 million. According to initial reports, Schecter pleaded not guilty May 4, and the court raised his bail to $1.4 million at that hearing.
Attorney and family criticize prosecutors
Schecter’s attorney, Debra S. White, said in a statement that the case raises a broader question about the Me Too movement. She said an accusation can do enormous damage before the full story is known, particularly when prosecutors overcharge and speak publicly as though guilt has already been decided.
“Taking allegations seriously does not relieve prosecutors of the responsibility to exercise restraint, fairness, and respect for due process,” White said.
Schecter’s family, in a statement provided through White, criticized District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s handling of the case and objected to the statements his office released earlier this year. The family said Schecter had autism spectrum disorder and anxiety, and that the evidence was “more complicated than the headlines suggested.”
Those statements reflect the positions of the defense and the family. The District Attorney’s Office had not issued a public response to them in the information available Thursday.
What a preliminary hearing decides
The hearing set for Oct. 6 was a preliminary hearing. Under the California Courts’ description of pretrial activities, a judge decides at that stage whether there is enough evidence for the case to go forward, and if so, the defendant is held to answer.
The hearing does not decide guilt. The same page says a trial must start within 60 days of the arraignment on the Information.
Resources for people in crisis
Anyone in crisis can call or text 988 at any hour, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s 988 information page. The department also operates a help line at (800) 854-7771.
Police have found no sign of foul play
The Santa Monica Police Department has described the death as a suspected suicide with no indication of foul play. The medical examiner’s online records list the manner of death as suicide.
The criminal case against Schecter was still pending when he died, and his preliminary hearing had been set for the day after he was found.
